ATP: Lucas Pouille presents – first Frenchman in Vienna final

Lucas Pouille was the first player to reach the final of the ATP World Tour 500 tournament in Vienna: The Frenchman defeated Kyle Edmund in three sets and is now waiting for the winner of the game, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Philipp Kohlschreiber.

By Jens Huiber from the Wiener Stadthalle

Lucas Pouille has come from the blue corner on this semi-final Saturday in Vienna, matching the outfit that the Frenchman presents this week in Vienna. Pouille has big plans for this year, as Yannick Noah’s reputation has reached him: the Davis Cup final against Belgium. However, Lucas Pouille still has a final commitment in Vienna. The Frenchman defeated Kyle Edmund 6:7 (7), 6:4 and 6:3 in the first semi-final of the ATP World Tour 500 tournament.

The 25-year-old Stuttgart winner was to be expected in the semi-finals, even though the home fans had hoped for Dominic Thiem. Pouille is an all-rounder, which also and above all captivates by its athleticism. Edmund, on the other hand, is easier to calculate, the forehand is the one with which the Briton intends to shape his points. Edmund had defeated David Ferrer in round one, a proven expert on Vienna, Dennis Novak followed with a lot of effort, and Jan-Lennard Struff in the quarter-finals with considerably less effort.

Edmund organized himself in the fifth game as the first break chances, three of them. Pouille resisted with good defensive work. The same procedure at 4:4, again Edmund missed three possibilities in the Frenchman’s service. In the tiebreak, it was almost clear that all the achievements during the first twelve games were worthless: Pouille quickly took the lead with a 4-0 lead, while Edmund equalled with a backhand pass. Pouille missed his first set ball with a forehand that sailed from the net tape into the out, Edmund made it better at 8:7, benefiting from a simple mistake Pouilles. 7:6 after 58 minutes for the outsider.

Pouille and Edmund had already stood opposite each other twice in 2017, with their balance sheet balanced. Lucas Pouille had won the quarter-finals of the Davis Cup. The next duel has already been decided, the two semi-finalists from Vienna have been drawn in Paris at the last ATP Masters 1000 tournament in round one against each other.

The second set began with a novelty, the first break in the whole match. Lucas Pouille was so free. the remainder of pass two may be summarized under “no special occurrences”, 6:4 after a total of 1:42, equalization of the sentences. In the decision, Pouille was the first to beat Pouille again, and Edmund’s serve went 3-2. And with his second break after 2:17 hours, he set the course for the final.

In the finals, we now face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who won in the Stadthalle 2011, or Philipp Kohlschreiber.

Here the single tableau in Vienna